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Journalism takes down Barnes in the San Felipe (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif. — Journalism stamped himself as a serious player on this year’s Kentucky Derby trail Saturday at Santa Anita. Making his 3-year-old debut for trainer Michael McCarthy, Journalism ran down odds-on favorite Barnes in the stretch and won the Grade II, $300,000 DK Horse San Felipe Stakes for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
Journalism (3-1), ridden by Umberto Rispoli, settled comfortably in fourth after breaking alertly. Of the three runners in the field trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, it was Barnes who went to the early lead (2-5) with stablemate Rodriguez (7-2) flanked to his outside and longshot Smooth Cruisein also up near the leaders.
Barnes would set a pace of 23.71, 47.31 and 1:11.10 for six furlongs under Juan Hernandez. On the second turn, Rodriguez and Smooth Cruisein both began to weaken as Journalism was just finding his best stride. Angled to the outside for the stretch drive, Journalism took dead aim at Barnes and collared that rival inside the final furlong. He would proceed to win by 1 ¾ lengths in a time of 1:42.24.
“He broke really sharp,” Rispoli said. “He is the kind of horse that for the first furlong he needs to adjust himself. The trip was perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better. Once I took him out and pressed the button he put on the beast mode. He ran really strong.”
Runner-up Barnes finished 9 ½ lengths clear of Rodriguez in third. It was another 4 ½ lengths back to Mellencamp, also trained by Baffert, with Smooth Cruisein pulling up the rear.
As an official prep for the Kentucky Derby, Journalism earned 37.5 qualifying points for this year’s Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. Barnes collected 18.75 points, Rodriguez 7.5 points and Smooth Cruisein 3.75 points. The field was reduced to five runners when Berlin Wall was scratched Saturday morning.
“Obviously it’s nice to have a horse on the Triple Crown trail,” McCarthy said from the Winner’s Circle.
Journalism is a colt by Curlin out of the Uncle Mo mare Mopotism. This was his first start since winning the GII Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 14. He improved to 4: 3-0-1 with $338,880 in earnings.
“It is always great to have a horse that can take you places and he looks like he is taking himself and everybody else with him,” McCarthy said. “I was fairly confident today. I wouldn’t say I was overly confident, but I thought he was doing well enough to make some noise today. It is a little overwhelming to think of where this horse could go.”
As for previously unbeaten Barnes, who was making his first start around two turns, Hernandez noted he was just second-best on this day.
“He was driving really well…honestly, we just got beat by a great horse today,” Hernandez said. “This is his first time going two turns and I think he ran great even after Journalism ran past me.”
Journalism is owned by Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5 and Robert V. LaPenta.
Journalism paid $8.20, $2.80 and $2.10. Barnes returned $2.20 and $2.10. Rodriguez, ridden by Flavien Prat, paid $2.10.
